It would probably be easier to replace the dishwasher than to replace the door. We had a noisy builder’s special, and replaced it with a Bosch. You can barely hear it, and when you do, it sounds like small water stream.
ETA: The OP hasn’t actually said why he wants to replace the door, rather than remove it.
I was not being snarky. My advise was to reverse the door so it opens out. It’s virtually the same process as replacing it with a prehung. the door could be flipped but that would require piecing the frame back in and the handle would be at a different height.
the only part that needs to be plumb is the hinge side. Everything else is installed so that the reveal looks good around the door. If bi-folds are used then the op is stuck with open mortices showing.
As it stands now the current door is already a pre-hung that can be reversed at no cost (door swinging out). From the picture it looks like a very nice door. If the op wants it to swing in but from the opposite side then it’s a little more work to piece it in. If the top board is installed so it sits on top of the side boards then it’s a straightforward arrangement. It stays in place and the 2 sides are reversed. The hinges stay on and the door is framed back in place by resting it on shims and marking off where the inner board needs to go.
The hardest part of a retrofit is removing the existing wood without damaging it. That starts by cutting any paint holding in the trim using a utility knife and then using a wide putty knife as a starting wedge to pull the trim off. I use a cheap one to sacrifice for this so I don’t care if it gets damaged. Once I have a putty knife inserted behind the trim a take a thin block of wood (1/2 x 3 x 8 piece of plywood scrap) and use that with a thin crow bar to lift against the putty knife. the scrapwood is used to protect the wall and distribute the force. The putty knife is used to protect the trim and distribute the force of the crow bar.
once the trim is off the door frame can be cut loose with a recip saw. there should only be about 4 nails on each side to cut through.
So you pull the frame off flip it around plumb the hinge side and find the doorway is no square it is a parallelogram and the door won’t close, or it binds. Now the fun begins.
So I spoke with the safety officer at work. He told me that real fire doors have to open outward from where you are escaping. It may be a fire-resistant door but it’s not a fire door. At least the door handle is ADA-compliant.
I’d just take the pins out and store the door in the garage. That is the easiest solution. You can always put it back before listing the house for sale.
The rough door opening that the door frame fits into is larger so that the door frame can be shimmed into place plumb. If the house is falling over the edge of a cliff then the rough opening needs to be altered. but it’s normally larger to make up for the issues you describe. that’s what the outside molding is for. To cover up the gap between the inside finished frame and the rough opened framing.
When installing a pre-hung door the main objective is to get the hinge side perfectly vertical. This is done so the door swings neutral. After that the remaining frame should be shimmed to conform to the door so it looks good and closes flush. t/his is done by closing the door and inserting shims all around until the spacing between door and frame are equal. Screws are then driven through the door frame and shims. The shims are trimmed off flush and then the outer trim pieces are installed.
My answer is based on the fact that the OP asked the question at all. There is certainly no shame in not knowing how, but the mere act of asking revels that he probably doesn’t possess the skill or tools to go through the steps you outline. That and the fact that a hollow core door is a lot easier to handle than that bohemoth that’s currently on there.
Maybe I’ve been unlucky and had to handle a lot of really out of square doors but I doubt it. I’m betting its the norm. Without experience or special tools, I stand by my recommendation of the pre-hung being the best option for the OP.
There is nothing square about a pre-hung. It’s made square upon installation. The hing side still needs to be put in so it’s level in all dimensions and the remaining sides have to be shimmed so the gap is consistent around the door. the same goes for the trim outside trim. Granted you get one side trimmed but that’s hardly a deal breaker.
It’s not rocket science and there are plenty of videos to look at before tackling it so there really aren’t any hidden problems to crop up. It’s not like anything bad can happen. It’s an interior door and there are no consequences if it’s done badly. A handyman could walk in and redo it for little cost.
The big thing is making the cuts in the door posts, if you want to do it yourself. I am not exactly sure how to go about it, but you need some sort of cutting tool, probably a saw. The hinges need to go to the other side, and you need a hole for the door catcher thing to go into. Those look like it might be a little tricky to work out, but you can flip a door around, so it opens the other way.
yes but what I’m suggesting is that the inner door frame be pulled and re-shimmed. the rough opening doesn’t matter unless the house is falling over. If THAT has to be fixed then the rough opening has to be hacked up enough to reinstall the door. If a pre-hung fits then by default the original inner door frame can be pulled and re-hung.
Maybe I’m not communicating this well. The hard part about pulling the inner door is removing the wood without buggering it up.
You use a chisel. Making shallow holes for the hinge plates is pretty easy. Doing a neat job of the hole for the latch is a little trickier but the strike plate covers that up.
There’s a tool just for this. It strikes a pattern in the wood that you can then trim out with a chisel. There are also template kits for a router or a dremel/router adapter.
